Another fortnight, another Up and Becoming. We have some fantastic tracks this week from: Cobain Jones, Crimson Bloom, Perry Manning and Citylightz. We’ve already discovered over an hour and a half of brilliant music tucked away in Spotify and these songs are all great additions to the Up and Becoming vault. As usual, a playlist of all of the songs talked about in this post is linked at the bottom of the article. Lets dive in:
Cobain Jones:
Hooked – Looking through the playlist of inspirations Cobain has on his Spotify page, this song sums it up perfectly. He obviously knows his influences but owns them, creating his own distinct sound. The song has very Beatles-esc vocals and singing style with a more 90’s sounding acoustic guitar backing. These two eras of music already complement each other brilliantly and Cobain combines them to craft a sentimental but catchy song.
Crimson Bloom:
Cut Me Down – Another track that is not afraid to wear its influences on its sleeves. It’s not just the cover that has a Stone Roses feel to it with this song. Its gentle compelling opening guitar riff starts off a wonderfully pleasant journey through the earliest roots of indie. This song could easily pass off as an late 80’s indie rock classic. An overall lovely and charming track.
Perry Manning:
Keep the Faith – A brilliant, uplifting and passionately delivered track with some stunning lyrics. Perry has a wonderfully flamboyant singing style and isn’t afraid to embrace the quirks of his voice, and use them to stand out. The instrumentation is simply composed but is intertwined so well with the vocal delivery you barely even notice it. What results is a complete song that sounds superb.
Julius Caesar – A joyous and amazingly fun track with some very clever and intimate lyrical decisions. It once again makes perfect use of Perry’s one of a kind vocal style. The song features a couple of magnificent bridges where the songs structure is completely turned on its head, this ensures what first comes across as a straight forward story song develops into something more interesting and complex.
Citylightz:
I’m a Rockstar – The core sound of Citylightz is a mashup of classic guitar driven instrumentals and a fast paced rapping vocal style. This track is a great example of how to pull this off right. Its not far removed from something that Jamie T would produce, just with a bit more funk to it. There is a great middle eight which makes perfect use of the lyrical talents of the band and the whining guitar throughout makes the song an addictive listen.
Summary:
After making a couple of posts with real variety, I’ve returned to the roots of music that I enjoy with this one. This means there may not be something for everyone here, but if you enjoy one track, its likely you’ll enjoy them all. Personally I think my favourite track this week is Julius Caesar. Perry Manning has written a self reflective track, but manages to arrange it into something almost comedic. Take a listen to all of the songs in this article using the link below and see if any of them stand out to you.
Link to “Up and Becoming #7” Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2toZ22LMYTysNk1U3OEOa6?si=DQLXij3eRnOn8ZdCmZZABA
Link to full “Up and Becoming” Playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rmB0CbDw6kadB0hfgv3oc?si=resJs19nR7WAWMqEcndm7Q
